DeBARY HALL
Posted by: 
overrover
N 28° 52.461 W 081° 17.812
17R E 471050 N 3194101
DeBary Hall was the winter retreat of a European-born wine merchant who chose the St. Johns River country for his hunting estate. Beginning in the 1870s, New Yorker Frederick deBary acquired lands near Lake Monroe, built a large vacation house, and tried his hand at orange growing and commercial steamboating.
Waymark Code: WMGJ9
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 07/06/2006
Views: 71
Built in 1871 by Baron Frederick de Bary. Born 1815 in Germany of Belgian descent, de Bary came to New York in 1840 as agent for Mumm's Champagne. His estate of many hundred acres here in Florida was a hunting and fishing preserve and his family's winter home, where many notables of the day were entertained. Presidents Grant and Cleveland and members of Europe's royalty were guests. He died in 1898 in his 84th year, and his son Adolphe inherited the property. De Bary's residence here was during the steamboat era of the St. Johns River, and his interests included ownership of a steamship line. FLORIDA FEDERATION OF ART, INC. Organized 1927 in Orlando for the purpose of promoting, developing, and advancing art in the State of Florida. DeBary Hall, with about five acres of land, was given to the Federation in 1959 by the Property Owners Association of Plantation Estates and became the Federation's State Headquarters and Art Galleries. In 1967 the property was acquired by the Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials, which then leased it to the Federation for its continued use. The Federation Committee that negotiated this sale and lease was Mrs. G.J. Brooks, Chairman; Mrs. Willard Bielby, Secretary; Dr. and Mrs. A.E. Brandt; Mr. William Daniell; and Mrs. Mabel Bullis.
DeBary Hall was the winter retreat of a European-born wine merchant who chose the St. Johns River country for his hunting estate. Beginning in the 1870s, New Yorker Frederick deBary acquired lands near Lake Monroe, built a large vacation house, and tried his hand at orange growing and commercial steamboating
But above all, this Florida estate became a center of sport hunting and hospitality. Entertainment,” said one relative, “was a very simple matter at DeBary Hall. Most guests were asked because they enjoyed the out of doors, with swimming, hunting, and fishing.”
DeBary Hall also offers glimpses of larger things: America’s long romance with Florida, a nineteenth-century tourism boom, orange fever, and steamboating on the St. Johns. And since local African-American and white workers kept the estate going year-round, their lives are central to the storytelling here.
DeBary Hall Historic Site
210 Sunrise Boulevard
DeBary, FL 32713
(386) 668-3840 or (386) 736-5953
Marker Number: F-155
Date: 1968
County: Volusia
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials
Website: [Web Link]
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